Schaeuble Tells Handelsblatt Fiscal Union Comes Before Euro Bond

The euro region needs “a real fiscal
union” before the topic of joint debt management can be
broached, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an
interview with Handelsblatt.

Shared liability for national debt in the currency union
and lower refinancing costs would lessen the pressure to change
economic and fiscal policies, Schaeuble was cited as saying. A
fiscal union in the region is a medium-term project, he said.

Plans for a banking union in Europe, as proposed by
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, include a
possible network of national bank restructuring facilities,
Schaeuble said in the interview.

Germany supports the introduction of a financial market tax
that’s based on stamp duties in the U.K. and France with as many
participants as possible and which also includes derivatives,
Handelsblatt cited the finance minister as saying. High-
frequency trading should be curbed through tighter regulation,
he is quoted as saying.